Oh how we laughed when my partner and I moved into our first flat and suddenly had to furnish it.  Just gathering together the funds to pay the deposit and rent took all our energy – actually getting into it and living a life seemed all so much hard work!   But of course relatives came to the rescue with various items they had stashed away in attics and garages.   Very soon we had a table to eat off, two mismatched chairs and to our eternal joy, a sideboard with big cupboards and 4 capacious drawers.  This was in addition to the brown wood bed and cast iron headboard and a rather quaint pair of dressing tables.  They had been supplied as a Mr & Mrs set, the latter being made very slightly more feminine with lacy cutwork marquetry around the triple mirror and around the roof of the kneehole.

We were grateful for the items of course, but back then they seemed awfully old fashioned and we couldn’t wait until we moved to our own premises and could start again with new modern pieces for the scandinavian emporium.  However once we did move, we couldn’t bear to part with the pieces and managed to acquire other items that although did not match, they complimented our existing arrangements well.   The value of oak furniture cannot be underestimasted.  Its sheer beauty for starters and the functionality.  We did keep some of our original pieces well into twenty years but caved in to the desire for modern sleek lines – but not without passing our beloved old pieces on to student grandchildren with words of encouragment to keep hold of the heirlooms!